Our news. Our views.

Mulbury secures £20m Wellesley Group backing for Excelsior Works scheme

Mulbury has secured £20.1m of development finance from Wellesley Group to build its Excelsior Works scheme in Castlefield, Manchester.

The development of 108 apartments, being marketed for private sale, is due to start on site in May. A contractor will be appointed in late March.

The scheme will see the vacant site of a former Excelsior book-binding works in Hulme Hall Road transformed into a high-quality, eight-storey development adjacent to the Bridgewater Canal.

James Alderson, head of Mulbury City, said: “It’s great to have Wellesley Group on board. The finance team bought into our vision for Excelsior Works, but also showed an in-depth understanding of our needs as a developer. We can now move forward swiftly. Enabling works will begin in a matter of weeks in preparation for a commencement of the main build works in May.”

Andrew Turnbull, managing director of Wellesley, said: “We are delighted to be working with Mulbury, a developer with a strong track record of building quality homes. There is strong demand for mid-priced housing in Manchester and this development is in line with Wellesley’s strategy of concentrating on funding quality housebuilders mainly away from London and the South East.”

Designed by Tim Groom Architects, Excelsior Works will offer a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments. Some of the apartments will have balconies and access to a communal roof garden, while basement parking will also be available.

Savills is the appointed agent and will begin marketing the scheme to UK buyers in March.

The development gained planning consent in July 2017. The site had been vacant since the former mill structure collapsed in 2015 and had to be demolished.

Mulbury was advised on the acquisition of the site by the Manchester-based real estate team at Primas Law. The Manchester office of international law firm Fieldfisher provided legal advice to Mulbury on its finance deal with Wellesley.